Third gram sabha too rejects mining project in Niyamgiri

Continuing the opposition to bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills, the third palli sabha held here in Trilochanpur panchayat adopted a unanimous resolution on Tuesday not to allow digging of bauxite ore from their area. Amid heavy bandobust, the gram sabha, home to 22 OBC families, repeated the sentiments expressed at two other gram sabhas held earlier at Serkapadi and Kesarpadi in the neighbouring Rayagada district. The gram sabhas are being held for the first time in the country on a directive by the Supreme Court to verify claims that mining in Niyamgiri — the seat of power of Niyamraja, the ‘ista debata’ of the locals — would violate their religious and cultural rights. The chairman of Green Kalahandi, Siddharth Nayak, said proposing mining in Niyamgiri for the one million tonne bauxite refinery of the Vedanta located at Lanjigarh near this area, would trigger an environmental disaster by drying up the hill streams and spoiling the rich ecosystem of the area.